Most keys used for tightening or tuning the heads of a drum are made from a single casting or molded part. These keys maintain the same shape both when they are being used and when they are being stored. Other keys require some assembly before they are used on a drum bolt. Various drum key tightening devices have been patented and are described herein to provide a background regarding the superiority of the proposed drum key.
The majority of drum keys that are available today consist of an essentially flat “T” shaped key where the drive socket in on the bottom of the “T” shape. Exemplary examples of these keys are found in design patents D166,457 issued to H. Dreyfuss on Apr. 15, 1952, D346,100 issued to Eric J. Behrenfeld on Apr. 19, 1994, and D407,895 issued to James A. Staley on Apr. 13, 1999 Utility patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,418 issued to Eric J. Behrebfeld on Mar. 16, 1993 is another example of this style of key. In Dreyfuss '457 the shaft of the key is a cylinder with an “S” shaped turning handle fixed on the cylinder. In Behrenfeld '100 and '418 the key consists of a cylinder with a recess for a drum bolt. The other end of the key includes wings for tightening the bolts. The winged end further includes an open hoop for attaching the key to a support tube typically located on a drum stand. In Staley '895 the cylindrical drum key includes wings with an additional driving recess located in the wing section. This patent further includes a carrying holster for clipping the holster onto a belt or key ring. All of these patents consist of a static casting or molding where the gripping and torqueing wings exist in a fixed orientation relative to the body of the key.
U.S. Design Pat. No. D404,986 issued to John E. Mahon on Feb. 2, 1999 disclose a homogeneous drum key with a hole molded eccentric with the axis of the bolt tightening hole. The hole allows a user to more quickly secure the drum head onto the drum by placing the key onto the bolt and then inserting a finger into the hole and rotating the key around the tightening bolt. While this patent shows another embodiment of a tightening key the part is fabricated from a homogeneous material and the arms are located in a fixed orientation relative to the central body of the drum key.
U.S. Design Pat. No. D472,114 issued to Palecki et al. on Mar. 25, 2003 disclose a turbotune drumkey. This key can be either used manually with the fixed extended wings or can be attached to a drill or driver for quickly tightening or adjusting drum bolts. While this tool allows for tightening drum bolts, the wings or arms are fixed on the tool and are not extendable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,775 issued to Jon E. Fagerstrom on Mar. 7, 1995 discloses a musical drum precision tuning tool that allows the bolts to be torqued to an even level. The tool is basically an “L” shaped tool and does not extend or deploy arms to allow the tightening of bolts.
Published application US 2003/0159550, by Fumihiro Shigenaga, published Aug. 28, 2003 discloses a drum tuning key. The key is an “S” shaped tool where one end of the tool is placed on a bolt head and the other end can be turned to tighten the bolts. The tool is made from multiple castings or bent metal members but does not extend or deploy.
What is needed is a drum bolt adjusting tool where the tool exists as a cylindrical member and when the tool is articulated the cylindrical tool opens to provide wings or arms that can be gripped to tighten the bolts. The proposed tool satisfies these needs by providing a tool that extends to provide a gripping surface to tighten drum bolts.